


A Quiet Moment Together

by afteriwake



Series: nongentorum [70]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Caring Greg Lestrade, Coffee, Conversations, Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Greg Lestrade & Molly Hooper Friendship, Hospitals, Male-Female Friendship, POV Greg, Past Molly Hooper/Tom - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 17:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10417857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: After Sherlock is shot in Magnussen’s apartment, Lestrade and Molly have a conversation at the hospital while they wait for him to wake up.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stbartsmolly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stbartsmolly/gifts).



> This fic prompt (" _mollstrade; sprezzatura {studied nonchalance; perfect conduct or performance of something [as an artistic endeavor] without apparent effort}_ " sent in by an anonymous Tumblr user) was claimed by **stbartsmolly** for my Molly Madness Month claim. I have had this prompt sitting in my inbox for quite a few years now, so I'm glad for it to _finally_ be answered.

“I’m not actually feeling anything.”

Lestrade studied Molly for a moment, even though he really didn’t need to to know she was lying. He’d been the one on the end of the phone calls lately as her relationship with Tom had dissolved because they all knew Mary and John had the settling in to deal with, getting the feeling of being married to sort out, because it really was different than cohabitation. And there was no point in talking to Sherlock because, he reasoned, Sherlock had been part of the reason it had all fallen in on itself like a bad souffle. And he knew Molly had other friends, course she did, but he’d been through a relationship ending because of a third party, even if it was different.

Didn’t help that John had informed them that Sherlock had been planning to fake propose to Janine when he’d been shot earlier that evening. He’d ruined her relationship while carrying on with someone else. If Sherlock Holmes wasn’t lying safely in a guarded hospital room, Lestrade was _almost_ sure Molly might finish the job the shooter botched.

He sat next to her and handed her a cup of coffee. Not the crap stuff from the canteen, but good stuff. He’d left briefly to go to the first decent coffee shop he could find that was still open and ended up settling for a twenty-four hour Starbucks, but at least it wasn’t sludge. She looked over at it and took a sip as he settled in next to her. “Ever heard of the term sprezzatura?” he asked.

Molly shook her head. “No,” she said quietly.

“It means studied nonchalance. The perfect conduct or performance of something, as an artistic endeavor, without apparent effort.” He took a sip of his own coffee, as strong as he could have gotten it. It was going to be a long night, he knew, until Sherlock was awake from his brief death during surgery and coherent enough to give answers to the nine hundred or so questions he had for the consulting detective. “You’re a master at it. It takes one to know one.”

She gave a small little huff, not so much of indignation or irritation but as of something else. Surprise, maybe? He wasn’t quite sure. “I have no feelings one way or the other, though.”

“If you didn’t, you’d be at home with Toby and not here waiting for Sherlock to wake up,” Lestrade said. 

“Tom’s there, getting his things,” she said, looking down as she lowered the coffee. “I would rather be here than face him right now.”

“Ah.” He was quiet for a moment. “Did you want the relationship to end?”

“Yes,” she said. “Just not the way it did, not with Tom thinking I was having a fling with Sherlock. I didn’t want to hurt him like that. Sherlock’s an arse. He doesn’t...” She set her coffee on the empty seat next to her. “He doesn’t give a rat’s arse who he hurts. He got high for a case, he expected me to _lie_ for him, like I did before, and then with Janine? Oh, I hope she finishes him off.”

“I am a copper, remember?” he said, giving her a small grin.

She looked up and gave him a sympathetic look. “Sorry.”

“I understand, though. He hasn’t been the same since he’s come back.”

“No, he hasn’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I wonder if part of him really died when he faked his death, or when he was gone. I mean, you’ve changed, but not badly. You’re a good man still, just...more weary. And it’s not fair to you, either.”

“But that’s the way the world works, I’m afraid,” Lestrade said with a shrug. “No real victories for most of us. Just hard work and disappointments with a few shining moments.” He reached over and grasped her hand. “I will say, meeting you and having you as someone I’m close to has been one of those shining moments.”

“Has it?” she asked, surprised. “I thought you never really noticed. I mean, I know we’re friendly, I just thought...”

“I know when he was gone you distanced yourself to keep his secret,” Lestrade said, squeezing her hand. “I probably would have done the same thing or I may have gone off the deep end like Phillip.” She let a small chuckle escape at that. “But since he came back, you’ve made an effort. It’s hard being alone, and you being there has helped.”

She nodded and turned her hand slightly. “Well, perhaps we can build up our friendship, then. I mean, I doubt either of our social calendars will be full for a while. We can always get a drink after work, or a bite to eat sometimes. Better to have company than to be alone, right?” She gave him a hopeful smile at the end of that, punctuating her question.

He nodded, his smile widening. “Right,” he said. He watched as the small smile on her face brightened and widened as well, and squeezed his hand once before letting go to get her coffee. This had all taken a turn he hadn’t quite expected, but it wasn’t a _bad_ turn, not at all. They’d go slowly, steadily, see where this path led them and maybe, if they were lucky, find some happiness together in this mad, mad world.


End file.
